Phoenix: a Dance Moms Fanfic

Chapter 4: Making a Splash in Pittsburgh Part 2

Thursday

I awake to the sound of pounding, like a bomb setting off in my room. I bolt upright, realizing it was my mom knocking on my door. "Phoenishka, Abby wants us in at seven!" I groan, I usually wake up at eight. Today will be a hard day.

I step out of my bed, feeling surprisingly awake. I change out of my pajamas into an ALDC sports top and leggings, with a branded hoodie over it. I comb my hair into a ponytail then step into the living room.

My mom scurries throughout the room, rushing to collect all our stuff. She slings my dance bag and water bottle in my arms. "We're leaving right now," she takes my hand and leads me out of the building.

She drives us out of the parking facility and into the streets of Pittsburgh. "I really hope we go to LA at some point. We won't have to live in a hotel anymore," my mom sighs.

I agree, my dad bought us a house in LA. He promised that if the ALDC ever travels there, him and my brothers will visit. "Can we call Daddy and Vladim and Alex sometime?" I ask, pulling out my phone. I flip through their Instagram, which has nothing new from them, other than a few photos of early rain.

"Sure," She replies. "You should send them a video of your ballet solo, I think Vladim would like that." I nod, then search through my videos. Vladim is a professional ballet dancer and coaches in his free time. My parents didn't want me to dance because they worried it would take too much of my time, but I really wanted to dance like Vladim. He taught me at home, then took me to Moscow's Red Ballet dance center when I was six. I love doing duets with him, even though we don't perform them outside of the studio. It's hard leaving my family in Russia for America during the year, we only visit during the summer and Christmas. Once Dance Moms ends, I want to move to Russia and join the Vaganova Ballet Academy, so I can dance while seeing my brothers all the time

I scroll through Instagram stories. I catch sight of one of GiaNina's, which is her and the other girls having a blast at Starbucks. It was posted twenty minutes ago; I feel a pang of jealousy. 

"Mom, do the other girls carpool to the studio?" I ask, trying not to sound sad.

"Yes, why?" She responds.

"I just saw it on Instagram, it looks like they are having fun," I say. We pull into the studio before she can respond. I check my phone for the time. 6:45

"We're here early!" I jump out of the car with my dance bag in my hands. A cold breeze hits my skin, immediately my hoodie doesn't seem like enough.

I run inside, my mom trailing behind me. I fling the door open and run through, the warm air greeting me.

"Hello!" Abby says at the front desk. "Today we will start with an hour of ballet, an hour of acro, then straight to the solos." I nod, then pull out my purple leotard and cream colored tights, running to the bathroom.

I quickly get dressed then meet my mom in the viewing area. She brought a few of my foam blocks and rollers from home to stretch my splits. I start a quick warm up as she sets up.

I pull out my phone and go on TikTok. I might as well post a video for my dad to see. I set up the phone so it can film us.

"Ready?" My mom asks. I nod, then go into splits. I can touch the ground in oversplits, but my mom pulls on my front leg so I can go even higher. "Hurts?" She asks. I feel the pain searing through the muscle, but I ignore it as much as possible. No pain, no gain.